Combined safety pilot and control valve mechanism



Sept. 7, 1943. j N, B. GREEN ETAL 2,328,642

COMBINED SAFETY PILO'I AND CONTROL VALVE MECHANISM Filed May 2, 1941 52a 30b s3 s2 4a FIG-5 INVENTCRS NOEL B. GREEN CARLTON W. BONDURANT ATTORNEYS parts.

Patented Sept. 7, 1943 U ITED STATES PATENT OFFlci:

COMBINED SAFETY PILOT m CONTROL, VALVE MECHANISM Noel B. Green, Cleveland, and Carlton W. Bondnrant, Euclid, hio., assignors to The Titan i Valve and Manufacturing Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio.

Application May 2, 1941, Serial No. 291,414

' (class-21) 1 Claim.

- This invention relates to improvements in fuel control mechanism such as is found in thermostatically controlled valves and the like asso-- ciated with water heaters where a main heatin burner and a pilot burner are involved.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a safety control for fuel burning equipment wherein the fuel for the main burner cannot be turned on until the pilot has been lit and a temperature responsive device has become he ted. This renders it impossible to produce an explosion when turning on the main burner fuel supply.

Another object of the present invention is to supply fuel manually to the pilot when the manual main burner supply valve is open and, conversely, it is impossible to open the manual main burner supply valve and at' thelsame time open the manually Operable pilot burner supply.

valve.

Another object of the invention -is to provide a novel combination between a manual control valve and a thermostat adjusting screw so as to provide a very compact arrangement of the Other objects specific arrangement of the parts and-advantages accruing therefrom as set forth in the accompanying drawing and specification and the essential features of our invention will be sum marized in the accompanying claim.

In the drawi Fig. 1 is a sectional view'taken. along the line l-| of Fig. 2, showing one embodiment of our invention; Fig. -2 is a sectional and advantages include the movement occurs upon heating.

nection at [2 which is intended to conduct the fuel, such as gas, to the main burner (not shown) of a water heater or the like. .As best' seen in Fig. 2 the fuel passes from the inlet H laterally into a chamber l3, then through valved opening I4 into a chamber l5, one outlet from which is by way of conduit IE to a. pilot burner I! intended to be located near the main burner supplied from the conduit connected to the outlet I2. Another outlet from chamber i5 is by way of valve l8 into chamber l8 where thermostatically controlled lever mechanism generally designated 20 is located. The outlet from this latter chamber is by way of the central passageway, 2 la in the plug valve 2| and thence through opening 2!?) in the plug valve through passageway 22 to the outlet I2.

The thermostatically controlled lever mechanism 20 comprises a frame 23 in which an-adjusting' lever 24 is fulcrumed at the point 24a.

A main lever 25 is fulcrumed in lever 24 at the point 25a. Engaging this lever at the point 28 is therod 21a of a thermostat, the other member of which is the sleeve or tube 211).. It will be understood by those versed in this art that the sleeve 2|b has a high coefficient of expansion whereas the rod 21a. has a low coefficient of expansion. It results from this that upon cooling of the sleeve 21b the rod 21a is moved toward the left in Fig. 1. r The opposite It is assumed here that the thermostat 21a, 21b is inserted in i a water heater or the like which'is heated by the has bifurcated legs fulcrumed at 28a in the view of the same apparatus taken along theline 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 isafragmental sectional view taken along the line H-of 1; Fig. 4

' respectively of valve ll.

main burner supplied from, the fuel passing through the outlet l2. A snap acting lever 28 frame 23. The other end of this lever at 28b is adapted to engage and operate valve l8. A

spring 29 'is held in tension between the point 28c on'le'ver 28 and the free end of lever 25 at the point 251). It will be understood by those versed in this art that as the thermostat rod 21a. oscillates lever 25 so as to carry the point 25b to the left or right of fulcrum 28a, the lever 28 snaps toward theleft or right as viewed in Fig. 1 so as to control the opening and closing The spring "a normally urges the valve II toward its seat.

is a view taken in the position of the line 4-4 of Fig. 1, with parts broken away to show interlocking mechanism: while 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 showing another-position of the parts. -In the drawing, a hollow valve body I. forms aimltaryhousingforall'of the parts. This body has an inlet connection at and an outlet con- It is desirable as pointed outlater that the I valve at the point 2| be'of the non-rising stem type and for our present purposes we have selected thepIuz valve here disclosech' This comprises the usual tapered plug 2| which its into a corresponding frusto-conical seat in the housing I]. The stem Me of this valve is of sleeve form interrupted by a pair of notches. This sleeve is. embraced by the circular recess 30a in the handle 30. Projections 30d extending into the recess engage in the notches of the valve stem so that the handle will turn the valve. This handle is substantially circular in outline and comprises a peripheral flange 381) having a central web 300 which carries a central boss providing the recess 30a. The handle 30 is secured to the housing ill by a pair of screws 3! each of which passes through an arcuately slotted opening 32 in the web 300. The heads of the screws 3| hold the handle 30 firmly on the housing it preventing axial movement but permitting oscillatory movement about the axis of the plug valve. The screws 3| provide stops for the handle movement when they strike against the ends of the slots 32.

The handle 30 is cut away'as shown at ti so that when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 3 the plug 35 may be removed to give access to the valve it and its associated parts. This recess 34 has no other function.

Means is provided for adjustment of the lever 24 and this is preferably combined with the valve 2! so as to give a very compact arrangement oi? the parts. As here shown an adjusting screw 36 passes axially through the plug valve 2! and its control handle and has a threaded engagement at 31 with the web of the handle 30. A spring 38 exerts a constant compressing effect against packing 39 in a suitable recess in the stem of the plug valve so as to prevent leakage along the adjusting screw 86. A spring All is engaged between the handle 30 and a shoulder on the plug valve so as to constantly urge the plug valve toward its seat. For this purpose of course the valve stem 2k: is axially movable in the recess 30a. Thus the plug valve is always free to seal and to wear in independently. It will be understood that movement of the screw 36 changes the position of lever 24 about its fulcrum and thus changes the position of fulcrum 25a relative to the thermostat rod 27a so as to vary the range of temperature controlled by the thermostat.

Means is provided for indicating the range for which the thermostat is set. This comprises co acting indicating pointer and scale one of which moves with the handle and the other of which moves with the screw In the em bodiment here shown the scale (not shown) is in-- scribed on a removable disk ii which has a pressed fit within the flange 3%. An indicating pointer forms part of an adjusting knob 52 which fits over a boss Ste of the handle 38. This adjusting knob is securedby set screw '23 to the screw 36 so that the knob moves with the screw. At the same time this holds the parts assembled. A lug 30] on the boss 36c coacts with a projection on the interior of the adjusting knob to prevent rotation of the, latter through more than 38G".

It will be seen that there is a distinct 816N511". tage in the combination of the non-rising valve 2!, the handle 30 which cannot be moved axially of the valve and the adjusting screw which has threaded engagement with the handle it is a very compact arrangement or the pa the position of the screw 38 relative to th die 30 may be adjusted but this adjustl not be affected by rotation at the hen .le fit for manipulation of the'valve. At the some time the lost motion between the valve 2i and the handle 30 permits the plug valve at ail times to seat tightly.

Valve- I4 is controlled by a thermocouple in aeaae a the housing 44 subjected to the flame fromthe.

pilot burner ll. Electric current generated by the heating of this thermocouple is transferred to an electromagnetic unit in housing 5 and serves to hold'open the valve M in the full line position of Fig. 2 when the thermocouple is heated. A spring d6 normally urges valve it toward closed position on its seat. I This construction is fully described and claimed in Patent No. 2,097,838, granted November 2, 1937, to

Sebastian Karrer.

Manual means is provided for opening valve it. This comprises a setting pin til passing through a suitable opening in a wall of the housing iii. At its outer end this pin is provided with a cap 48 which slidably engages in the hollow boss 49. A spring 50 urges the pin to its outermost position and at the same time holds a packing 5! in position to seal the pin ti against leakage. A stop collar i'ia at the inner end of the pin limits its outer movement. It will be seen from Fig. 2 that movement of pin dl inwardly will move valve it from the dot-dash position to the full line position against the action of spring 36.

Interlocking means is provided between pin ti and valve handle 30. This comprises a pintZ extending at right angles to pin 41 and housed in a suitable recess in the housing It). This pin has a head 52a which engages against the flange 30b of the handle 30 as shown in Fig. 4 in all open positions of valve 2i. It will be noted in Fig. 4 that the end 5% of pin 52 lies in the path of movement of the cap 48 by which the pin 5? is manipulated. Thus it is impossible to push pin 51 inwardly suflicient to open valve It when valve 2| is open. Spring 53 urges pin 52 toward the left as viewed in Figs. 4 and 5.

In Fig. 5 the handle 30 hasbeen rotated to carry the nearer face of flange 30b upwardly from the position of Fig. 4. This is the same as counterclockwise movement of the parts as viewed in Fig. 3. In this position of the parts (Fig. 5) valve M is completely closed. This brings a recess 54 in the face of flange 30b in registration with the head 52a of pin 52. Spring 53, then moves pin 5.2 out of the path of cap tit and it is then possible to move pin ll inwardly so as to open valve i i.

When the parts are in the position of Fig. 4, if it is desired to open valve 2! handle Elli may be turned to carry the nearer face of flange 36b downwardly as viewed in Fig. 5, whereupon the sloping surface 5 30: of the recess L will earn pin 52 back to the, position ofFig. without interfering with the operation of handle However if when the parts are in the position of Fig. 5 the cap it is moved inwardly to carry pin 5? -to the position where it opens valve it, then cap 38 lies in the path of movement of pin 52 and insuch a position of the parts it is impossible to move the handle 39 to open valve 2!! because the head 52a of pin 52 cannot move out of the recess E i and therefore it locks handle 38 in place.

If necessary or desirable a throttling screw 55, best seen in Fig. 2, maybe provided for limiting flow through the passageway 22 and access to t is screw is'sealed by a plug tit.

The operation of the device is iollows: Assuming that the thermostat El a, is cold, then the snap lever 28 will oscillate in a counterclockwise direction from the position shown in Fig. 1 so as to hold open valve I8. If the pilot ii is extinguished and thermocouple M is cold, then valve it will be closed and no fuel can get press on the cap 48 so as to open valve l4 after which pilot burner Il may be lit. If at this time while still holding valve I4 open by this manual operation it is attempted to open valve 2|, this will be found impossible because as previously explained the cap 48 will hold the head of pin 52 in the recess 54 of handle 3!]. However after thermocouple 44 has been warmed up by the pilot burner I! so that valve I4 remains opened, then the 'cap may be released so that the parts return to the position of Fig. 5 and it is then possible to turn handle 30 to open valve 2| to supply gas to the main burner which will be ignited by the pilot burner. It is thus impossible to coincidentally open valve 2| and to manually open valve l4 and it makes no difierence whether one attempts to manually open valve i4 before or after attempting to open valve 2|. 1

It will be understood by those skilled in this art that so long as valve I4 is held open by thermocouple 44, with valve 2| in its open position, then themain burner will be turned on and In other words all gas is shut oil. 7

oil responsive to movement of valve I 8 under control of the thermostat 21a, 21b.

What we claim is: Valve mechanism of the character described comprising a hollow valve body providing a chamber, a multiplying leverage system in said chamber, a thermostat coacting with said system, there being two valved openings through one of the side walls of said chamber and communicating therewith, a thermostatically controlled valve coacting with said system and controlling one of said openings, a shut-off valve controlling the other of said openings, said valves having parallel axes; there being a valved opening lying to one side of and partially opposite each of said valves, there being a short passageway in said body providing direct communication between said last named valved opening and said thermostatically controlled valved opening, an emergency valve controlling said last named opening and having an axis at right angles to the axes of said two first named valves, a resetting pin coaxial with said emergency valve passing through said valve body between said two first named valves to the exterior of said body for control of said emergency valve, there being fluid inlet and outlet openings in said valve body, there being a. passageway through said body between said inletopening and said emergency valve, and there being a passageway through said body between said shut-off valve and said outlet opening,

NOEL B.GREEN. CARLTON W. BONDURANT. 

